With almost 3,200 ballots cast in his name, city council Vice President Earl Persip of Pittsfield, Massachusetts emerged as the top vote getter in November’s municipal election. While only 17% of eligible voters turned out in the city of around 43,000 residents, the results give the at-large councilor a clear mandate as he heads into his fifth two-year term as a top legislator for Berkshire County’s largest community. The city has much to consider ahead of its next swearing-in: the ongoing debate around a controversial camping ban that remains tied up in review, the cloud of staff misconduct allegations that’s hung over the public school system since last winter, the ongoing closure of the historic Wahconah Park, and increasing financial strain amid funding cuts at the federal level. Persip sat down with WAMC to explain what he took away from this fall’s vote, and what issues top his list of 2026 legislative goals.
PERSIP: For me, it just shows that I'm doing a good job. I think the people who came out and voted were supportive of me. Being a top vote getter, I'm happy for the first time ever for that to happen for me. I think it just shows that I'm on the pulse of what people really want and are talking about.
WAMC: So, with that in mind, what are some of those issues that you think are resonating, that you feel like you represent?
The kind of the day-to-day issues within Pittsfield. The plowing we had the school department issues going on last year, just that, public works. A lot of the stuff- Trash getting picked up, addressing the issues that affect people every day, not ignoring those bigger issues that we've talked about over the last year or so, but really focusing on all the things, not just one or two heavy issues that we that make the news media every day.
Now, of course, last year, all the controversy around the Pittsfield Public Schools allegations of staff misconduct, you were a vocal critic of how the school committee handled that situation, and there was a widespread sense in Pittsfield about a lack of faith in the powers that be overseeing the school department. As this new term plays out with a new school committee, what are your thoughts on that?
I'm excited. I think this school committee is raring to go. I watched the election as a voter myself, and was happy that the people that got elected got elected. They seem like they care, they want to address the ongoing issues within that, so I'm excited to see what they can do and bring to bring to the table
Now, Latifah Phillips, the current head of the school department- There's still an element of you know, is she going to be permanent, what her future is? Are you confident so far in the leadership she's brought to that position since she took it over from the last superintendent?
I am very confident. You know, I hear her speak at different things. She was at a meeting at city hall, I heard her speak. She's realistic about the problems that we have and realistic about the timeframe to get those things done and what she wants to do. She has a plan, from what she's told me, what I've seen in her public meetings, she has a plan to address the issues. It's just not going to be overnight, and she's realistic about that. And I like that approach, it’s being honest with everybody, how things are going, what's going on and the timeframes are going to take.
Let's turn to 2026 and this new term on the council, another two years on the body that oversees the largest community in Berkshire County. What are the major pressing issues that you want to address with the body heading into this new year?
I think one of the things is, economic development for us is going to be big. I think we watch the small, but a tax raise this year is because our market of taxing commercial properties is shrinking or staying stagnant at this point, and I think we need to focus on growing that. I think we need to focus on some of the social issues going on downtown. That's something to be talked about. We're waiting for the health department to get back some of the things about the camping ban. And then I go back to, my third number thing is the day-to-day issues, what's bothering people, the streets not getting plowed on time, not pretreating, those public work issues I think people are really passionate about, and I think we have to focus on those things. Like I said earlier, focus on the big stuff, but the small stuff matters too.
Yeah, you alluded to the camping ban. Obviously, another big topic in 2025. As things stand, of course, the criminalization component was removed after a lot of public debate. As far as where this legislation is going, where do things stand? You're waiting on this report from the Public Health Department. Tell us, what happens next?
Well, we'll see what their recommendations are. I think this council, the last, this current council, and I think the next council coming up is actually going to listen and take recommendations. I'm a proponent of holding people accountable for actions that we don't want in our downtown, but I'm also, let's be compassionate about things. Criminalizing those things doesn't make sense. The ordinance as it first came to us 100% did not make sense to me. But I also am a- We have to listen to downtown businesses, and we have to hold people accountable, and there's nothing wrong. We can do both. It's just a fine line, and we, it took us a long time to get there, but I think now we have both sides kind of working with each other to try to come up with something that makes sense for everybody and that will actually work.
Now, another question looming ahead of the council will be millions of dollars in spending on the wastewater plant, another long running saga in Pittsfield. There's always been debate about how to handle the wastewater plant- Can you sort of walk us through how you want to approach that as a legislator in Pittsfield, when you look at again, another seven-figure digit heading to a vote about how to best serve this crucial piece of Pittsfield’s infrastructure?
Like you said, it's a crucial piece of infrastructure. We run a utility, and we have to make sure that utility can serve the residents. If it doesn't, we have a big problem. You know, we see utilities down in the southern part of the county that just don't serve the residents the way they should, and we don't want to make sure we're not that way. I think it still needs to be looked at. I am not a huge fan of spending another 15 plus million dollars on in the wastewater treatment plant. But I'm also understanding that sometimes you have to spend money to save money in the long run, and this might be the issue. Like I said, it's going to come in front of Finance, where we'll go through it with a fine-tooth comb and see what happens. But it is an important project. Can we do it right now? I'm not sure 100%.
Now, of course, another topic that's been big this year is cuts to federal spending. We're looking at the potential end to some subsidies and programs that a lot of people in Pittsfield rely on, we're looking at a very strong chance of cost-of-living increases. I'm interested, how is this going to hit Pittsfield, and how can the city best prepare itself for what seems like is going to be a very complicated financial future?
I think the main thing we can do to help ourselves and our residents is get our spending under control. I'm not saying we're spending out of control. We don't have these big, great, big programs anywhere that- It's, a lot of it is staff, but it's trying to get our staff to work smarter, not harder. Kind of combine some things here and there. I think we have to be realistic about our spending. And we have some things, we're going to have some struggles, but we just can't keep raising our tax rates over and over each year by these big numbers. We didn't last year. 4% is a pretty reasonable number. We see Boston, they're up at 13%. Cost of living, cost to run the city, is all going up. So, we have to be realistic about it, but we have to look in the programs and look at things we can do to save ourselves in the long run.
We're also going to hear the State of the City address from Mayor Marchetti. I would say broadly you tend to align with the mayor's objectives in city hall. I'm interested, what are you looking forward to hearing from Mr. Marchetti as he starts to lay out plans for the coming year? What do you think he has to address as the chief executive of Pittsfield?
Like you said, he's going to have to address the federal cuts in in the budget, he's going to have to address, I think, economic development within the city, growing small businesses. That's the key to Pittsfield, is small business, growing those businesses is going to be, and the way we can help them, just putting out more programs like that, using the GE economic funds to help businesses new and old. Those are the things I will be looking for. Those are the most important things. And it’s two- He's got a, basically the next year, but it's really two years he's got to really tell us what his goals and focus will be for the city, so as a city council, we can support it or help make them those things better.
Speaking of economic development, there's always been discussion about what a refurbished or a reimagined Wahconah Park could mean to downtown Pittsfield. Of course, there's been precious little action on the park since it was closed a couple years back. Any thoughts on where that project stands? It certainly was pitched at the time as being possibly a way of galvanizing economic development in the core of Pittsfield- Give us your thoughts on that.
I think the park is important. I'm the chairman of the committee. That's why I volunteered to do it. I think there's things going on behind the scenes dealing with permitting and addressing some issues that came up, so we're looking at other ways to build the park, maybe not that big price tag that we originally thought of. So, we're working on those things behind the scenes so we're ready to present that to the public when it's time. But there's been ongoing issues at Wahconah Park. Everybody knows the ongoing issues. There's some other issues going on, but we are working with the right people to make sure the park happens. I think if anything, something has to happen down there, we can't let it just sit and die.
What are the most pressing issues? Is there any chance they'll be addressed in the coming year?
That's the plan, to address them in the next coming year. There's some environmental issues, which we all know are down there. We know there's a sewer problem that from the upper streets is going on. We know the flooding problems going on, so we're just working on ways to address those issues before we're ready to bring them back to the public. And that's where we're at with that. There is things going on. I know people don't really realize there's things going on at city hall, conversations taking place to address these issues.
What's a topic you think didn't get enough air time this year that you think people should be talking about more or thinking about more? Can you think of any issue that maybe like is sort of, as a legislator or someone with a lot of experience in Pittsfield government, kind of didn't get enough publicity?
Ooh, that's a hard that's a hard question. I think, maybe some of the- We don't talk enough about the positive things that go on in Pittsfield. I know it's easy to talk about the negative things, but we have a couple new businesses coming in, we've helped a couple old businesses with GE economic funds. I think talking about the things that are happening, we have to be our best cheerleaders. We can't sit back and just let the negativity dominate us. There's good things going on. They're not always perfect. Nothing is perfect, but we do have to celebrate those wins when we do get them.
And lastly, I wanted to ask about regionalization and Pittsfield’s role in Berkshire County. I spoke with Mayor Jennifer Macksey of North Adams after her successful reelection bid, she talked about how the problems North Adams faces around everything ranging from substance abuse to mental health, it's not like this is a silo. This is something that impacts a broader community beyond the individual cities. When you think about that kind of theme about how Pittsfield works into the larger county, what comes to mind?
I mean, just those things you mentioned. I think when we talk about the issues going on, North Adams has it, Great Barrington has it similar, some similar problems. As Pittsfield, the leader of Berkshire County, I think we have to be the ones to bring everybody together and have those conversations of what we can do to share some of those expenses and share some of the solutions we may have or we may not have. I think it's important for Pittsfield to be the leader in that. And I know people have talked about this in the past, but it never really gets done. Everyone talks about, let's all get in the same room and have a conversation. Let's start there. I think Pittsfield has to be the leader that makes that happen.
Just to piggyback off of that for a second, we often hear about the concerns that the Western Massachusetts and the Berkshires are not getting an equal amount of support from the state as the eastern portion of the state. It's something of an established fact at this point. When you think about those regionalization efforts, do you think the state is doing enough to support Western Massachusetts and support Berkshire County, because it does lag behind the rest of the state in income and a lot of basic living issues.
No, I don't think it does at all. I don't think the state- I mean, we see that in our school systems, we're not getting enough money. It's bottom line. There's no way to sugarcoat it. I don't want to upset anybody in the eastern part of the state, but we're not getting our fair share, I don't think. That's my honest opinion. We're not getting enough, so we need more. And I think the mayor Pittsfield, he has a great relationship with the state, with the governor, and he's been working on addressing those things.
If you could ask one thing from Boston for Pittsfield, what would that be?
Ooh, I would say one thing- Support, give us enough money to fund the schools fully.
